Travel

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

As a Caltech grad student, I've been paying $8/month (reduced grad-student rate) to be a member of The Athenaeum, Caltech's private club. While I dined there somewhat frequently in my first year - for easter buffet, dinner, quick lunches, etc - I haven't gone in quite some time recently. I decided to go to the Guest Chefs Night featuring 5 chefs, 4 of whom are guest chefs from the LA/Pasadena area and beyond. I invited LA&OC Foodie and his friends to enjoy this night with me and keep me company!

The night started off with a reception in one of the halls at the Athenaeum, with raspberry champagnes and hors d'oeuvres such as this cajun shrimp in a sweet-and-sour cocktail sauce.When the time came, we walked to our assigned tables which were all set up out in the patio - it was a nice night and the outdoor seating was a beautiful idea. As we walked to our tables though, immediately our eyes were drawn to ... the centerpiece!The entire centerpiece was made from chocolate! Made by Bruno Marcy from C... Is for Chocolate.We all had to restrain ourselves from devouring them throughout the night ...

Each table sat about ten people, so since there were only five of us, we were joined by other Athenaeum members and some of us seemed to have struck exciting conversations with the other party (which included a patent lawyer and his family).

The dinner started with Scallop with Chicken Skin Crust -- Chef Craig Strong, The Dining Room at the LanghamWine pairing: Kabinett Riesling, Gunderloch, Jean-Baptiste, Rheinhessen 2007The scallops were okay but the chicken skin crust was definitely interesting. It apparently was too strange for some people on our table, but I liked the novelty and fried chicken skin is always pretty yummy.

The next course is from chef Christopher Eme of Ortolan:Lobster Spaghetti, herbed caviar and sea urchin sauceWine pairing: Chardonnay, Flowers, Sonoma 2006.This was definitely the most interesting dish of the night and probably our favorite also. It must've been painfully delicate work to wrap the thin spaghetti strings around the soft lobster mousse. It definitely looked beautiful and was delightful to eat as well. The sea urchin sauce had a subtle but nice sea urchin flavor - it was there but definitely approachable by first time uni eaters.

Salad of Fall Beets with a Confit of Fennel, spiced walnut crusted chevre with vanilla bean vinaigrette.Wine pairing: Rose, Les Domaniers de Puits Mouret, Cotes de Provence 2007I loved the spiced walnut chevre here! Not only did it have a nice texture but also a nice flavor with a nutty touch due to the walnuts. The beets were pretty good. I'm not sure about the confit of fennel - I would've been happy with just the beets and the chevre.

Our main entree was from the executive chef of the Athenaeum, Kevin Isacsson:Pumpkin Seed Crusted Suckling Veal Rack, wild mushroom marrow stuffing, truffled cognac sauce.Wine pairing: Cabernet Sauvignon, White Rock, Laureate, Napa 2004 - the only red wine of the night.The veal was slightly cold but definitely very tender. Slightly pink, definitely not overcooked, but again, do wish it was warmer. I loved the marrow stuffing, nice flavors from the mushrooms and nice texture combination with the marrow.

For dessert we had Honey and Light Chocolate Mousse by chef Bruno Marcy from Sara J. Pastries & Cakes and C ... Is for Chocolate.Wine pairing: Black Muscat, Quady, Elysium, California 2006.I really liked the mousse and especially the combination with honey. The wine was interesting to me as it was the first Black Muscat I've had. It was a little sweet of the mousse cake, but I like the Muscat by itself nonetheless.

After 5 glasses of wine, everyone was merry, to say the least. The entire meal, with wine pairing, was $110 - which I think is a pretty good deal.Although I've eaten at the Ath several times, this is my first time attending a special event there and I thoroughly enjoyed it, from the ambiance, food, and of course the company!I'm definitely looking out for more special events like this there and utilize my membership (finally).The Athenaeum at Caltech551 S. Hill AvenuePasadena, CA 91106(626)395-8200http://athenaeum.caltech.edu/

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

I didn't quite adjust to NY time so at 3 pm one day I found myself searching for a good "lunch" place that's open at least until 4 ... All the sushi places I wanted to try are out, and apparently so was Momofuku Ssam Bar. The noodle bar was open, though, so I decided to give that a try.

People seem to rave about the steamed pork buns at all the different Momofukus so I decided to give them a try here. $9 gets you two pork buns - expensive but since I was on vacation I didn't give it *too* much thought.These pork buns tasted like a super-fatty peking duck! Because of the bun and oyster sauce. The pork is a slice Berkshire pork with a fatty layer.Instead of green onions they put cucumbers instead, which adds a very nice crunchy texture and a cool, refreshing taste. Delicious. Are they worth the price though? Tough call - maybe not. Peking duck would be cheaper ...

I of course had to get the Momofuku Ramen (I was at the Momofuku noodle bar after all!). $16. Again, not cheap for a bowl of ramen.Pork belly, shredded pork, bamboo shoots, green onions, and fish cake. And the egg - unlike typical ramen fare which uses a hard boiled egg, the egg in the Momofuku ramen is a poached egg that runs and soaks up the ramen when you break it.

It's a great bowl of ramen that really warmed me up in the 36F New York weather. On a vacation from LA I didn't mind spending the $16+tax+tips+cab ride for this delicious bowl of ramen. Whether or not I would go there on a regular basis were I to live in NY is a separate question. But I'm not doing hypotheticals right now, so I'll just say this was a nice late lunch for a November afternoon in New York!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Starting off my report on NYC this year with Jean Georges! Another Michelin 3-star tested. Last year I managed to hit Le Bernardin and Bouley, but this year I managed to hit so much more. Great trip, indeed.

At Jean Georges you can either get 3 courses+1 dessert prix fixe for $98, or one of their tasting menus (1 classic and 1 seasonal) for $148, which I believe was 5 courses+1 dessert. Their classic tasting menus included egg caviar, but since there was no foie gras involved in either of the tasting menus and since the other people in our group had dietary restrictions, we decided to go with the prix fixe and chose our own dishes.

The amuse bouche consisted of smoked salmon with cream sauce, chestnut soupBoth the salmon and the warm soup were great.

All four of us ended up getting the egg caviar for our first course, for $25 supplement.Great eggs, and great caviar. I don't really know my caviar well enough to fully appreciate it though, but the egg preparation was wonderful.

Pan Seared Foie Gras with Fall Spices, Concord Grape.Best. foie. gras. ever. Ever. I don't know what else to say. It's a simple preparation that really focuses on the foie gras, not the embellishments. The concord grape sauce complements it perfectly. And the foie gras. The foie gras!

One of the others got the Black Cod steamed with Hoshinmeji.For my main entree I went with Smoked Squab a L'Orange, Asian pear, Candied Tamarind.The squab was tender, much more so than any other squab I've had before, and had a very nice smoked flavor to it. The broth was subtle and takes a bit to appreciate, but it really grows on you and by the end you couldn't stop eating!

All three of my dining companions went with the Loin of lamb, spiced crumbs, fried eggplant, fig compoteThey came bearing a cart and showed us the black trumpet-crusted lamb in a big piece. Upon our approval, they cut the lamb loin and plated it right in front of you. Wonderful touch to their service! The lamb was tender and delicious. This was a heavier, bolder-tasting dish than the squab, but both were great. Accompaniments worked very well with the main attraction.

For the dessert you choose a certain theme, and you get a tasting of 4 items. When we were there our theme choices were: Autumn, Chocolate, Apple, and Caramel.Here's a photo of the Caramel that someone else ordered:The Chocolate one consisted of: Jean Georges chocolate cake, vanilla bean ice cream, aerated chocolate sponge, chocolate gnocchi, chocolate sodaThe chocolate sponge had a very interesting texture and just sorta disappears in your mouth. My favorite part of this one was the JG chocolate cake, which is just like a chocolate molten cake and was delicious.

Autumn: pear tart, persimmon ice cream, snow cone ... and some marshmallow-y tart that I wasn't sure about.My favorite part of this dessert was the pear tart and persimmon ice cream:Then came a slew of petit fours, from macarons, fresh cut marshmallows made in-house, fruit gelee and chocolates.This was my favorite dinner while in New York. The food and service were both excellent, and so was the company. JG definitely deserves their three stars and I hope I'll get the chance to come back - maybe for their $25 lunches!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Wakasan is one of my favorite recent discoveries. Why? Well, 1) they're open late - 11:30PM M-Th, and 12:30AM F-Sat (they close at 10:30 on Sundays). I don't know if you remember my ordeal on finding late night places on Mondays, but, well, this about fixes it all! 2)It's a great deal. They prefer you to do their prix fixe menu that's $35 - when I did, I ended up getting 12 items and was stuffed - probably too much so for 11pm on a Monday ...

Thanks to Mattatouille for pointing this place out to me!

1. Cold bean sprouts2. Bean curd - before it's formed into tofu with vegetables, and3. Ankimo with ponzu sauce, cucumbers and salmon eggsThe tofu curd had a very interesting texture and the dish overall was great.The ankimo was also good, and I really like the combination with the cucumbers!

4. Sashimi: Tuna, old yellowtail, red snapperThey're not the best quality sashimi, although it wasn't bad. I wondered why the "old yellowtail" - because, yes, it tasted pretty "old". Anyway it wasn't bad and for $35 for this and a lot more I wasn't going to complain.

5. King crab legsYum. They're king crab legs, I don't know what else you want me to say O:)

6. Grilled items: Miso salmon and green beans wrapped in wagyu beefPretty standard, salmon's a bit overcooked and hence, dry, for my taste, but overall everything was solid, even though not remarkable.

7. Braised Skate wingsThis was my first time having skate. It was pretty fishy, but also pretty meaty. The braising has made it tender, so it was quite tasty - although I wasn't able to finish it because I was full and also because it was too fishy for my taste.

8. Shrimp with sweet potato fried rollsThis was served with cocktail sauce, which I wasn't too keen about. Overall this was pretty bland in my opinion, although it did have nice textures.

9. ChawanmushiWith ginkgo, small shrimps, etc, this was one of the best chawan mushi I could remember having.

10. Miso soup11. Chirashi with tuna, scallops, uni.Again, the fish quality is not the best, but the uni is not bad. I didn't really like the scallops as they were not fresh, but I thought the other two were decent.

12. Vanilla ice creamI can't say for sure but this tasted very much like Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream. Which meant it was good :)

Overall we had a great variety of dishes, and some of them very interesting ones I've never had before, and all for $35. Plus they're open late daily. I'll be back here, and I think you know when :P

Monday, November 24, 2008

Royal/T in Culver City is known for its servers' maid uniforms, inspired by maid cafes in Akihabara in Japan, and the use of its space for art exhibits.The maid uniforms themselves are much tamer compared to maid cafes in Akiba with their dark brown and white color scheme. And no, they don't call you "Master" here.As far as their brunch offerings go, you'll find light fares such as salads, sandwiches, rice bowls and "baked eggs" (more on that in a bit).

The tea selection is fairly interesting featuring "modern brews" on top of classics like sencha and darjeeling. Tea selection was fairly small though. It seems that most of their "modern brews" is supposed to be better iced, so I asked for a yuzu sencha iced. Pretty solid, but not particularly memorable for me. The yuzu flavor was not as strong as I would've liked and the tea itself was slightly overbrewed.

I decided to just have a simple salad: Shrimp with Asparagus, Avocado, and Tomatoes ($10)Their prices are pretty reasonable, the ingredients used are good. The shrimps were good, and the salad overall is pretty good, although the combination didn't work 100% for me. Regardless it was enjoyable.

My friend also got some sort of egg scramble with tofu, served with salad.Their baked egg dish was interesting and actually pretty good. It's literally baked.I only had a bite of this but I think I'll get it next time - with something more than tomatoes though. There were only 2 slices of tomatoes in it, but the baked egg itself was good.

For a supposed "tea" place, Royal/T unfortunately has a very limited selection sweets and pastries - besides croissants at the bar area, they had three items on the dessert menu. Their online menu certainly boasts much more, but they were nowhere to be found that day.I decided to try the chocolate banana bread.The bread was good, but not enough to satisfy my cravings for sweets. It was pretty light and not that sweet, and I have no idea what whipped cream was doing next to a bread.I tried ordering their brownies, but they were out so I had to settle for the lemon tart.The lemon tart was good- the whipped cream was entirely decorational and superfluous. But again ... not quite enough for my cravings. But that was all that they had as far as desserts go - such a shame!I headed to Boule and splurged afterwards.

I didn't get the afternoon tea set this time but now I'm not sure if it will even be worth it. No scones? No pastries? What's the point?? I would still go to Royal/T because their simple food is good enough and the space is cool, but until they fix this lack of sweets problem I won't be there too often.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Clementine is a small neighbourhood place on Ensley, just off of Santa Monica (more or less right across from the Century City mall). They typically feature ingredients from local farmer's market.

Clementine's is simple lunch fare: salads, sandwiches, and soups. Their cold deli case usually features a wide variety of specialty salads and more. This time around we got some edamame with king salmon, caprese, and chicken soba noodles. A plate of 3 items like this is $11.95.All were fresh - refreshing and quite delicious, even the soba noodles that I was originally skeptical of (I'm skeptical of Soba from a non-Japanese place).

They also have made-to-order salads. Can't remember what I ordered that time (that day's special), but it had shrimps and white beansThe ingredients used were all great, although I'm still not sure about the combination with the beans.

My favorite part of Clementine's is actually all the soups, which you can buy frozen by the pints! You can also eat it there, or get a sandwich/soup combination.Their egg salad sandwich was delicious. I got a pint of frozen chicken tortilla soup to go - made for a few delicious lunches throughout the week!